Natural Resources

"Detected deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon reached a record high for the month of February following a similar record the prior month."

"Nearly all the world’s countries kicked off a U.N.-backed meeting Monday aimed at preventing the loss of biodiversity — seen as critical to avoiding the extinction of many vulnerable species, the emergence of pathogens like the coronavirus, and the damage to both lives and livelihoods of people around the world, Indigenous peoples in particular."

"A federal judge last week blocked five more Trump-era oil and gas lease sales for failing to comply with statutory protections for the greater sage grouse."

"In 1883, the public was transfixed by Yellowstone National Park, and not in a good way. This 2-million-acre natural treasure — mostly in Wyoming but with some land in Montana and Idaho — was being despoiled by commercial interests through the slaughter of wild animals, unrestricted logging and vandalism of hot springs."

"The world has a “once in a lifetime” chance to protect the high seas from exploitation, warned scientists and environmentalists, as negotiators meet at the UN headquarters in New York this week to hammer out a new treaty on the oceans."

"With the United States Supreme Court declining to hear the case, a protracted legal battle between two Indigenous communities has nowhere to go."

"U.S. wildlife officials reversed their previous finding that a widely used and highly toxic pesticide could jeopardize dozens of plants and animals with extinction, after receiving pledges from chemical manufacturers that they will change product labels for malathion so that it’s used more carefully by gardeners, farmers and other consumers."

"Congressional negotiators released a $1.5 trillion fiscal 2022 omnibus spending deal early this morning that falls short of Democratic ambitions for major clean energy and environment spending."

"Brazil’s former leader looks likely to try to unseat President Jair Bolsonaro in October elections – with potential big implications for environmental policy".

"More than half of the rainforest could turn into savanna — threatening wildlife, shifting weather patterns and fueling climate change".